they don't speak any English & my Italian is rubbish....
but it didn't matter at all. in fact we found the place in pouring rain in 2011 completely by accident (too cold & wet to keep riding.. lets stop), liked it so much we planned the route to go to Schilpario in 2012. When we got to the hotel the owner remembered us from the year before with a gesture about rain & comments that now the sun shines... good people.

if you decide to stay in the region of Riva / Torbole at the top of Lake Garda, I highly recommend Hotel Santoni Freestyle. It is owned by the family of the guy who runs our sailcloth operation in Italy, not exactly cheap (about €100) but the BEST breakfast ever, a really nice lounge / bar, and walking distance to downtown Torbole (which is pretty nice place to hang out and have dinner etc).

we also stayed here Hotel Les Glaciers in Bramans, which is along your route. Pretty nice place, older, but with half-board & a really nice dinner. Locked garage across the street, etc. But a very quiet place. So you're kind of "at the hotel" and that's about it. It was snowing on the Col du Gabilier that day for us, so "at the hotel" was OK

that's all I got.... looking forward to your pics.. note to self: have to up my game on the snaps this year

Hotels I have stayed in and would stay in again. * indicates a place that I would actively go back to.

Arabba / Corvara in Badia - *Hotel Evaldo* & Olympia / Hotel Table.
I LIKE the Evaldo - a bit pricey (it's a 4 star), but if you're gonna splurge once, this is the place.

Trento - *Hotel Sporting Trento*. Modern, cheap & clean. On SW side of town - no need to mess with city traffic.

Ponte Cafarro (north end of Lago d'Idro - Albergo Al Pescatore

Prestine (Passo di Croce Domini road) - Hotel Oasi Verde

Barcelonnette - Hotels Azteca & Cheval Blanc

Villars sur Ollon - Hotel Alpe Fleurie

Rencurel - Le Marrionier

Andermatt - Monopol, Sonne, Bergidyll. I've not heard good things about the Aurora.

Schaan (just north of Vaduz) - Hotel Duc - high up on side of hill - great view from terrace.

Not a hotel, and it adds about 12 kms to your route but - if the traffic along Como's road is bad, consider heading uphill from Bellano on SP62 to Lecco. Great road and no traffic. Bonus - nice cafe on hillside just above Bellano on the inside of a curve - lunch with a good lake view.

I've done this area several times heading out of Munich. Here are some of my suggestions.

From Munich take the A95 south, less traffic than the A8, to Oberau. Turn there to Oberammergau (nice monastery there). After Oberammergau turn left towards Lindenhof/Plansee/Ruete. Lindenhof is one of King Ludwig's castles. From Ruete head south to Fernpass to Imst then onto Timmelsjoch. From Meran you can head east to the Dolimites. No bad roads over there.

In Switzerland I would suggest spending a day in Andermatt. You can ride 5 passes in a day from there; St Gotthard, Oberalpass, Nufenpass, Grimselpass, and Sustenpass.

I've done the Route des Grande Alps and its great.
If you go north of Briancon theres a great pass called Gilibier.

Enjoy your trip. I love that area of the world.

__________________Its only a bad day if I'm not riding

"If you try to pass me you will die. I ride at the limit". Sigi Hoffman.

Thank you Greg and Micheal for the hotel tips. I've got them all written down and will have a look while on route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edder B

Hey Krime,

I've done this area several times heading out of Munich. Here are some of my suggestions.

From Munich take the A95 south, less traffic than the A8, to Oberau. Turn there to Oberammergau (nice monastery there). After Oberammergau turn left towards Lindenhof/Plansee/Ruete. Lindenhof is one of King Ludwig's castles. From Ruete head south to Fernpass to Imst then onto Timmelsjoch. From Meran you can head east to the Dolimites. No bad roads over there.

In Switzerland I would suggest spending a day in Andermatt. You can ride 5 passes in a day from there; St Gotthard, Oberalpass, Nufenpass, Grimselpass, and Sustenpass.

I've done the Route des Grande Alps and its great.
If you go north of Briancon theres a great pass called Gilibier.

Enjoy your trip. I love that area of the world.

Thanks for the tips. I'm using your route from Munich for the end of the ride on our way back - after visiting the Nueswanstein Castle, will get across to visit Linderhof Castle as well (what you were referring too - thanks for that). On our way down from Munich at the start of the trip, Thinking I'll stick with Brenner for the time being, as I've really gotta watch the km's.

For Switzerland, I've got most of those passes covered, with the exception of Oberalpass which I covered last year. Galibier in the Grande Alpes route is also covered.

I've finished adding the waypoints and routes through Basecamp. Quick question in regards to the Dolomites. Heading to the Manghen Pass south of Molina - what's the better route from Arabba, sticking on Sp232 which goes down on a diagonal, or heading over to Ponte Nova di Sopra and then down, as I've mapped out below?

Thank you Greg and Micheal for the hotel tips. I've got them all written down and will have a look while on route.

no worries

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krime

I've finished adding the waypoints and routes through Basecamp. Quick question in regards to the Dolomites. Heading to the Manghen Pass south of Molina - what's the better route from Arabba, sticking on Sp232 which goes down on a diagonal, or heading over to Ponte Nova di Sopra and then down, as I've mapped out below?

I've been the other way, the SS48 / SP232 / SS612 down towards Trento.
Not a bad road, we had pretty light traffic, and as I recall a pretty flowing road along a river valley.

That route looks very good. The only other suggestion, which would add about 60 miles, would be to head east from Arabba to Cernadoi then south to Caprile and then west on SP641 over the Fedaia pass then back into your route. But then again, that would add more milage and if time and distance are an issue then your route is excellent .

__________________Its only a bad day if I'm not riding

"If you try to pass me you will die. I ride at the limit". Sigi Hoffman.